The Philippines has declared a state of emergency after a typhoon left at least 114 dead and 127 missing.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr issued the “state of national calamity” declaration after a meeting with disaster officials on Thursday.
It comes after Typhoon Kalmaegi made landfall on Tuesday, striking the country’s central provinces. It is the deadliest natural disaster to hit the Philippines this year.
After reaching the country, the storm hit with sustained winds of 87mph and gusts of up to 121mph.
Authorities in Vietnam, meanwhile, are bracing for Kalmaegi’s approach. Forecasters warned that Ho Chi Minh City faces a heightened risk of severe flooding, as high tides would coincide with the expected heavy rainfall from the typhoon.
So far, the deaths recorded were mainly as a result of flooding in flash floods. The country’s civil defence office said that at least 71 people died in Cebu.
Cebu, a province of more than 2.4 million people, was still recovering from a 6.9 magnitude earthquake on 30 September, which left at least 79 people dead.
A state of calamity was previously declared there to allow authorities to disburse emergency funds more rapidly.
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The province’s governor Pamela Baricuatro told the Associated Press on Thursday: “We did everything we can for the typhoon but, you know, there are really some unexpected things like flash floods.”
Almost two million people were affected by the tropical cyclone, with more than 560,000 displaced and almost 450,000 evacuated to emergency shelters.
Six people who died as a result of the typhoon were killed when a Philippine air force helicopter crashed in the southern province of Agusan del Sur on Tuesday.
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The crew was on its way to provide humanitarian aid to provinces affected, the military said, without giving the cause of the crash.
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The Philippines is one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.
It is affected by around 20 typhoons and storms each year, is also often hit by earthquakes, and has more than a dozen active volcanoes.
